ABS Brake line routing question

HelluvaEngineer

Registered User
1990 SC ABS

I just received my new ABS pump motor from the Big E (great guy to work with, btw). I bolted in the new unit, only to find that one of the brake lines was binding and apparently will not hook up.

It's the line with the big nut, which runs straight down to a junction block (rear brake line?) It looks like it should be behind the pump motor, then come over the top of it into the ABS unit, but it binds against the rear mount for the motor.

I hoped to crack it loose from the junction and work with it but I think that nut wants to strip.

Will someone please look at their car and see if this thing runs in front of or behind the pump motor? Any weird bends, etc?

Thanks, HE
 
I would check to be sure, but my 92 is down at my shop getting some much needed front suspension repairs.....

If I am not mistaken, it runs down in front of the pump motor....

If you must move it, use a proper line wrench to get the fitting loose....

You do not want to round off the corners of the fittings....:rolleyes:

Also, the brake lines are somewhat flexible....

You might just have to push it a little to get it to stay out of the way....:eek:
 
Does anyone have a link to a picture of the brake lines connected to an ABS unit, or can snap one with their camera? This is driving me nuts. I'm guessing that all or the brake lines should be in front of the pump motor and mine is now all bent up. Just want to confirm before I pull everything out (again).
 
Ok, success!. Wow, what a pain. The unit is in place and running. I will take a picture later for the next guy who comes across this thread, but I don't know if my lines are quite correct or not but they fit fine.

One suggestion, pull all wires and brake lines FAR out of the way and zip tie them in place. this really helps.

Related question: how long should the motor run to initially charge the system? I think it was running slow because the battery is low, but I didn't want to burn up the new motor.
 
Sounds like this is OK:
The pump motor is protected by an internal thermal switch. If the motor overheats due to prolonged running (20 minutes continuous or so) the thermal switch will open shutting off the motor for 2-10 minutes until it cools down.
 
Ok, success!. Wow, what a pain. The unit is in place and running. I will take a picture later for the next guy who comes across this thread, but I don't know if my lines are quite correct or not but they fit fine.

One suggestion, pull all wires and brake lines FAR out of the way and zip tie them in place. this really helps.

Related question: how long should the motor run to initially charge the system? I think it was running slow because the battery is low, but I didn't want to burn up the new motor.

On the first use of a new accumulator, it might run for a couple of minutes.
 
The motor shut off after a quick test drive.

As promised, here are some pics of how those lines turned out. Thanks everyone for the replies.
 

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Ugh. Got about 3 miles from home and the ABS light came on. Lost most of my brake pressure. I stop the car and smoke is coming off the manifold. There's brake fluid on the TOP of the reservoir. Looks like it was coming out the top.

The motor still works.

Can a bad accumulator do this or is it likely the actual master cylinder?
 
I've seen this on a few occasions, but not as bad as yours....

Are you running the original OEM accumulator....
 
I should have asked - that seems to imply that the accumulator is the issue - ?

How do you think the fluid got on top of the reservoir? Out from under the cap? Or is the accumulator cracked somewhere?

If you add some fluid to the reservoir and turn the key on, do you see anything happening under the hood?

(I guess it could be from the accumulator ... but I haven't seen this occur. The accumulators seem to go bad gradually in most cases.)
 
I seen them overflow when applying heavy pressure to the brake peddle (like when you are doing 90 mph + and the end of the drag strip is coming up fast)....

Both time I had that happen, just a little bit of fluid ended up on the top of the reservoir....
 
Well, trust me, I was pressing on it pretty hard because I had little to no assist.

I probably drove 50 miles yesterday. Earlier in the day I had an occasional ABS / brake light. Occasionally pressure would fluctuate. Then, later in the day the lights came on and stayed on. Then pressure really dropped off. I could tell it was trying to rebuild pressure, but one pedal press and I was back to a hard pedal.

To me, it sounds like what a bad accumulator would do. Are these decent replacements? Any other sources?

http://spinningwheels-sc.com/hydacaccumulatorballs.aspx
 
The flickering ABS and brake lights mean the accumulator is going bad....

The one that SW has is a direct replacement for the OEM one...
 
Accumulator

I just found an accumulator online for my Thunderbird for $25. Its a used one but the cheapest I found aside from that was around $200.
 
I am mistaken then and I misquoted on price. I have looked at the sw link listed above and the one you just posted. I suppose I will find out the quality when I get mine and install it.
 
I am mistaken then and I misquoted on price. I have looked at the sw link listed above and the one you just posted. I suppose I will find out the quality when I get mine and install it.

I installed the unit linked above. It appears to be comparable quality to OEM, but it has no hex fitting on top. It does have a section on the bottom that you can tighten with a wrench if you have the whole assy out of the car or if you make a custom crowfoot wrench of some kind.

I used an oil filter strap wrench to tighten mine while in the car and this appears to work fine.
 
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